Sacred space is place where you can find yourself again and
again. It is a place where regardless of the time, date, weather, or any other
circumstance you can count on to be a retreat and help you learn and reflect on
yourself. A space like this is the first place you’ll run to and the place that
will always remain the same. When thinking
of one place where I feel completely free from any worry and accepting of
everything around me is bench #7.
My Gram’s favorite place in the
whole world was a bench in a little opening on the coast of Ogunquit, Maine;
bench #7. When she passed, her ashes were spread along the shore so that she
could always be in the one place that made her the happiest. I never realized until
that moment how much that space meant to her, and how much it would mean to me
from then on. There is no other place that makes me feel calm and serene like
sitting on this bench, watching the wave’s crash, and breathing in the fresh
air. Being there allows me to forget everything that shouldn’t matter and focus
back to the simplest of times. It’s like an instant transfer back to being six
and playing in the sand, being with the people who meant the most to me, and
not having a worry in the world. Remembering those moments and staying
connected to my past is what I find sacred.
The right brain recognizes images
and objects connecting them with emotion and feeling. The feeling that I get
when I’m in my scared space connects directly back to memory of the importance
to my grandmother. The left brain deals a lot with time and the history throughout
it much like the memories that I made throughout my childhood in this space. The
memories behind scared spaces are what give them meaning to a person. The caves
and paintings of the Aborigines had a deeper meaning to them. They told their
story and gave them a place to solely remember and reflect on it. It’s not the
space that has the meaning; it’s the history behind it.
I really liked how you defined sacred space in the beginning; it was really deep, meaningful, and really shows what makes someplace sacred. I was moved on your description of why that bench was so sacred to you; you really conveyed how much that place really means to you. I was also very intrigued on how both functions of your brain work when your there, that too was deep and touching. My favorite part though, was the last sentence you wrote. Though anywhere has the potential to be considered a sacred space, it is important to understand the meaning behind the place and determine what about it makes it seem sacred. Overall, you did an outstanding job
ReplyDeleteThis post is great and I could definitely connect to it. I like how you described the space as allowing you to "forget everything that shouldn’t matter and focus back to the simplest of times." I also appreciated your analysis of the text and the Shlain reading. The description of the space was well thought out and showed not only that is matters, but why it matters. Well done!
ReplyDeleteKasey, I loved your focus on the sacred space as one of reflection. I think that, whether we are conscience of it or not, when we are in space where we feel so comfortable and removed for day-to-day life, people almost automatically try to make sense of what puzzles us. I also enjoyed how you focus on sacred space as being somewhere that involves memory, because I think as you revisit a place you develop more associations with said place that allow you to experience it more wholly. Another thing I enjoyed was how you linked memory and temporal thinking. On the whole, you provided a very insightful piece, but I wish you had done a little more with the connections to the people we have studied in class; I think your unique perspective would illustrate some interesting points. Great job!!
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